Special Events>16th Annual B&O Bicycle Tour Report

Ride Summary

As everyone knows, the weather did not cooperate with the B&O Bicycle Tour this year. After 14 years of favorable weather, I guess we were due. In spite of the weather, between 30 and 40 bicyclists chose to ride and seemed to have a good time (see pictures). The sags stops were open, sag drivers circulated the route, and we had the barbecue lunch. In spite of the weather, spirits were positive. We had a very special presentation before the ride. Charlie White, Assistant Director of the Dept of Natural Resources (DNR), and Steve Morris, Director of the Division of Outdoor Recreation at DNR, announced that the B&O Trail project is receiving a grant of $175,000 for construction of 1000 feet of trail on the west side of Raceway Road. This will be the first pavement put on the ground by BOTA and will get the ball rolling for much more to be accomplished in the near future. This segment of trail should be completed by fall.

Why did we not cancel?

Our normal policy is that the ride goes on rain or shine. However, because there was some lightning, we had to consider the possibility of cancelling for safety reasons. At shortly before 9:00 AM, the rain was moderate, lightning appeared sparse, and didn't appear to be reaching the ground at the time. We polled the riders and they wanted to ride. Therefore we reluctantly decided to continue with the ride. We naturally were hoping that the rain would end within a reasonable amount of time as it usually does.

Cancellation policy

Even though it is not expressly stated in the entry form, our policy for this ride, as with every other bicycle tour we are aware of, is that it goes on rain or shine. Prior to this event, we did not have a formal cancellation policy for severe weather. We have never been confronted by this kind of weather before. As a result of this year's experience, we will formulate a written policy for severe weather and publish it on our web site for next year's ride.

Rain date

It's almost impossible to reschedule an event of this size. We're already committed to the caterers for the food that morning. Volunteers have reserved this date on their calendars and it would be difficult to find a date that enough of them could work , the musicians have reserved this date on their calendars, and food, such as bananas, doesn't keep. Furthermore, since we reserve the entire park, we book this with the Brownsburg park board months in advance. Finding another open date on short notice would be very unlikely. Even if we tried to reschedule, you can be sure most registrants would already have other plans on the date to which we rescheduled and would not be able to attend.

Refund policy

We don't give refunds. Virtually every cycling event has the same policy. Next year we will make that clear in the entry form. Our expenses for this event run about $9000 and are no different whether we ride or don't ride. The event is held as a fundraiser for the B&O Trail, so we hope registrants take some consolation knowing their fee is going to the cause of building a trail that will improve cycling opportunities in the future.

T-shirt pick-up

If you ordered a t-shirt and live near Brownsburg, IN, you may pick up your shirt at the Brownsburg Recreation Center beginning on Thursday June 12th through June 30th. The Rec Center is located at 111 Eastern Ave in Brownsburg. The phone number for hours of operation is 317-852-0595. If you do not live within easy driving distance of Brownsburg, send a note to jsmall@lilly.com and we will mail your shirt to you. STOP